Dear Joseph,

You are 7 months old, baby!

You are so precious to us.  Every day, I marvel at how much you’ve grown and developed.  It’s hard for me to grasp how quickly time has flown since your birth – 7 whole months!

We started you on solid foods when you were about 6 months old.  So far, you’ve loved everything that you’ve tasted: chicken, avos (avocado), spinach, carrots, parsnip, bananas, apples, pears… the list goes on!

You do a wonderful job at sitting up on your own.  I used to be a bit worried about you falling over (with good reason!) but lately, it’s as if you don’t need me around at all!

Either way, I like to keep a pillow nearby juuuuuust in case you decide to keel over backwards.

You do need me around, you know.  And I know – trust me!  Lately, you’ve had this thing where you don’t want (most people) except your momma.  You can be happily playing on your own, fully engaged, and then shriek at the realization that I’m no longer within your line of sight.  Same deal if you wake up during a nap.  Where before you would just grab your passie (pacifier) and catch a few more “zzzz’s”, now you cry and cry until I come in and give you kisses.  I figure it’s all just a phase and in the meantime, enjoy the fact that you love snuggling with me.

I’m not too fussed about your nap-time awakenings, because you’re doing a wonderful job with your sleep.  You get a bit cranky around 6pm and by 7pm, it’s lights out.  You generally wake around 6/6:30am.  When you do wake, what do you want?  Me!  You’re fine with Daddy for about 10 minutes, but if you catch sight of me out of the corner of your eye, it’s a no-holds-barred crying jag until I pick you up and feed you.  Don’t worry, sweetie – I’m hungry in the mornings, too

Most of our days are spent playing and reading and taking walks and visiting with friends.  You got to see your friend Rex this past week and it was pretty cute watching the 2 of you interact!  You also love your “girlfriends” Sophia and Zoe at church, and I can’t wait for you to meet some of the other bubs that are soon-to-arrive.

Some of your favorite pastimes include reading…

Hanging out in your Jolly Jumper…

You also love to go on walks around town in your pram.  Now that it’s summer, you really enjoy kicking your heels up and seeing the sights!

You’re doing a wonderful job with your practice-crawling.  You scoot yourself all over the place (mostly backwards!) and sometimes, I don’t know how you end up where you end up.  Any day now, you’re going to figure the whole thing out and then we’ll have to step it up in the baby-proofing department.

Oh, and in case you begin to get smug and think that you’re always a doll and happy as can be, just check out the following photo (which your father insisted I put in!):

You do have your moments

We love you!

Back in November, Carole from ExpatFocus.com approached me about coming onboard as a columnist.  I’ve just had my first article published and would love for you to stop by and check it out.  Click the image below to be redirected to my post on the Expat Focus website.

Thanks in advance for stopping by to check it out!

I saw this on Facebook and had to laugh!

A man came home from work and found his 3 children outside, still in their pjs, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn around garden. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and no sign of the dog.

Walking in the door, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, the throw rug was thrown against one wall. In the front room the TV was on loudly with the cartoon channel, the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still in the bed in her pjamas, knitting. She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, ‘What happened here today?’

She again smiled and answered, ‘You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day? ”Yes,” was his incredulous reply. She answered. ‘Well, today I didn’t do it!!!

I love this gift from my sister Valerie (she made it herself!):

See that?  From Indiana to New Zealand with love

I know that I should do a longer post than this or at least post more often, but I’m having too much fun with my family to spend time on the blog.  You’ll just have to wait till there’s a lull in our activities!

In the meantime, know that Chris, Joe and I are having such a great time with loved ones.  I’ll get back to you when I can

We took Joe to a local children’s museum last week.  It’s so nice to have one near my parents, and this particular Saturday was a free day.  Better and better!

Of course, there aren’t many activities for 5 month olds.  Joe enjoys seeing new things, however, and since it’s been pretty cold and gray here in Indiana, a trip the museum was a nice way of getting him out without costing a thing.

This is the “tot spot”.  As you can see, not exactly a good place for babies to roll around on the floor, but full of bright colors and people for Joe to observe from our laps:

Here is Joe, concentrating with all his might on the flower pinwheel that Chris was spinning.  I love those eyebrows!

There is an outdoor courtyard at the museum, but it was too cold to go outside.  I’m guessing that they have all sorts of activities here in the summer:

Such a sweetie-pie:

The museum has been here for many, many years.  It has undergone renovations, of course, but several of the exhibits and items remain the same.  I used to play on this very slide when I was a little girl:

It wouldn’t be an Indiana children’s museum if there wasn’t some exhibit about farming.  Joe sat on this red Farmall tractor, with Chris holding him in place.  It looks to me as though Chris was enjoying it more than Joe!

We were on our way to the exit when we passed an antique car on risers with a rolling board underneath.  I could remember lying under that same car when I was a little girl, having so much fun pretending to be a mechanic while rolling around on the board and examining the undercarriage.  We thought Joe might like it too, and we were right!

If you’re ever in the area, you should stop by the Muncie Children’s Museum.  It’s cute, and they have free admittance every 3rd Saturday.

It’s weird to be back in America.  I didn’t think that it would be, but it is.

The first time “the weirdness” struck me was on one of our domestic flights.  We were so rushed in the airport that we’d been unable to get anything to eat.  As a result, we decided to get some in-flight food from the stewardess – a wrap sandwich to split, a medium snack-box, and a box of Twizzlers (Chris ate the Twizzlers – I’m not a fan of candy that resembles rubbery plastic).  Grand total: $22.00.  Being used to NZ prices, I thought that was a reasonably good deal.  I’ve since been told that $22 for a sandwich, snack box, and small thing of candy isn’t a good deal after all.

I think that it was days #2 and #3 of our first week here that I went to a Wal-Mart, a Target, and a charity shop with my mom.  While in the charity shop, I kept exclaiming: “This costs how much?!” and marveling at the prices of used furniture (I kind of have an obsession with finding used furniture in need of resurrection – I visit our local charity shop in AKL on an almost weekly basis).  I wondered aloud whether or not Chris would let me sneak an end table into our luggage, and my mom just laughed.

The weirdness continued with my first visit to a US shopping mall.  Talk about disorienting.  I felt like my head was whipping back and forth as we circled the women’s clothing section of Kohl’s.  All I wanted was a black, above-the-knee pencil skirt and a cardigan for church the following morning.  After 15 minutes of squeezing my way amidst overcrowded racks with clothes bulging into the aisles, I decided that I’d had enough.  I cut over to the sock department, where I bought a pair of black leggings and a 3-pack of wool socks.  Grand total: $2.30 thanks to $20 in Kohl’s bucks + a 15% off card that my mom graciously let me have.  Nice.

We headed to Macy’s next.  I thought they might have the black skirt that I was looking for, but no such luck.  They weren’t overcrowded with clothes like Kohl’s, but I still felt a bit headachey from the large selection in front of me.  I wanted to say, “The heck with it!” and go home, but my sister wouldn’t let me I decided to see if there was an Ann Taylor.  No AT, but there was a GAP outlet.  I was pretty happy when I saw that they had just the skirt that I was looking for, and in my size, no less.

I couldn’t find a picture of the skirt online since it was bought at an outlet.  The one below is similar, albeit a bit longer and with an exposed zipper in the back:

I also bought two loose-gauge sweaters with silver thread woven throughout, similar to this one but dressier:

One was silver and one was black.  The grand total for these 3 items: about $60.

I’ve missed those kinds of prices.

I decided to stop at the Clinique counter on our way to the parking lot {yes, parking lot, not car park!}.  I usually don’t buy make-up or skincare products in department stores.  However… since having Joe I’ve noticed that my eyes are beginning to look a bit too like Uncle Fester’s to satisfy me:

My mom and sister both use Clinique eye products and suggested that I try them.  I ended up purchasing the All About Eyes cream…

…and the All About Eyes concealer:

I considered buying a night cream, but decided against it for the time being.

Imagine my surprise when I got home, opened the bag, and saw a big jar of the night cream inside.  My first thought was, “Oh no!  She got the products mixed up and gave me the night cream instead of the concealer”.  I started to dig through the bag and quickly spotted the box of concealer.  What was up with that?

I thought that the night cream may have been a complimentary sample, but I looked it up online and saw that it was the same size as the $45 container, so I knew that there must have been a mistake.  I decided to call the store and ask if they would like me to bring it back the next time I was in Macy’s.  The woman that I spoke with thanked me, but told me to just consider it a freebie and that it was my lucky day   I’ll say!  Although my sister wonders if the woman at the counter didn’t just take pity on me and toss it in for the sake of all those who have to look at me, ha ha!

In summary: after having been gone for over a year and a half, I’ve decided that shopping in America is definitely weird and can give you a headache.  The prices are worth it, though, and if you get a great freebie thrown in every now and then, it certainly sweetens the entire process.

• Joe slept no more than 4 hours at a stretch on the overnight flight from AKL to SFO (San Francisco).  This was in part due to strange surroundings, but wasn’t helped any by the passenger sitting next to me who kept flipping on the light, sneezing (she must have had allergies), and watching the in-flight movies and music videos so loudly that we could hear it through the headphones.  Her baby was sound asleep, naturally.

• About 3 hours into our overnight flight, I realized that the reason why the person sitting next to me looked so familiar was because they were a former patient.

• The airline lost 1 bag and our car seat.  We got the bag the next day.  The car seat came 3 days later.  Thankfully, the airline gave us a loner car seat.  The loner looked like it was being held together with cheap toothpaste, and it was the best of the bunch.  I know, because I walked back into the storeroom to see for myself.

• We had 35 minutes to get from the check-in desk in SFO (where our flights were re-routed and consequently bumped up), through security, and to our departure gate.  Doing this with a 5 month old, an overloaded nappy bag, a wheelie carry-on suitcase, a stroller, and Chris’ giant backpack took some doing.  At one point, I was actually nursing Joe while walking and I did a nappy change in about a minute flat.  That’s gotta be a record.

• One of our gates was surrounded by the biggest snarl of people that I’d seen at an airport.  Of course, we had to get to the gate desk because when they’d re-routed our flights, they’d forgotten to print us an infant ticket.  Getting through that mass of people was ridiculous, especially considering all of our gear.  No one wanted to move and Chris is too polite, so I just said, “Excuse me!  Coming through!” and pushed maneuvered my way through the throng.

• Joe had a screaming fit while waiting to board one of our flights.  We were standing at the gate and the flight attendant called for “Elite boarding pass only!” for about 15 minutes.  After awhile, no one was in the line so other people started to line up.  She started announcing, “If your pass doesn’t say ‘Elite’, I don’t want to see you in my line!”  Joe, meanwhile, was shrieking at the top of his lungs, I was near tears, and other passengers were trying to convince the airline attendants to let us board.  I think that everyone wanted us to try to settle Joe so that, hopefully, they wouldn’t have to listen to him on the flight.  They wouldn’t let us board, though.  I don’t have a sense of entitlement when it comes to flying with a baby – I’m happy to wait with everyone else – but when someone, anyone is that upset, I’m happy to give up my place in line if it means that they’ll feel better.  I wish that the airline would have done that for us.

• On our last flight from Houston (or was it Dallas…?) to Indy, Joe decided he’d had enough and began to cry and cry and cry.  For 20 minutes straight.  This was all while we were seated and waiting for the plane to pull away from the gate.  It kept being delayed, the captain and flight attendants kept making in-flight announcements which freaked out Joe, and of course the lights were on in full force.  I was exhausted from not having any sleep over the last 36+ hours, was burning up because of the close, cramped quarters and lack of air circulation, and utterly dehydrated from having nursed Joe so much (seriously – I don’t  think that I needed to use the bathroom more than once in our entire trip… that can’t be healthy. and that was with me practically lunging for the water whenever the flight attendants passed by).  I tried every trick in the book to get Joe to calm but it wasn’t working.  The woman seated directly in front of us turned around rather violently and said something to Chris.  I couldn’t hear what she said, but I could hear him and thought, “Wow – Chris sounds upset”, which for him means that he sounded very firm and direct.

• Joe eventually quieted, nursed, and slept for the final 2 hours of our flight.  When we deplaned, I asked Chris what had gone on between him and that woman (who at the end of the flight turned around and was very syrupy-sweet to me and Joe).  He said that she had turned to him and said, “Why don’t you try something?”, to which he responded, “She’s better at this than I am.”  She said, “Well, obviously not.  She must be doing something wrong to make him cry like that” (as though I were the reason why Joe was crying).  Chris replied, “She knows what she’s doing – he’s just exhausted.”  She huffed at him and said, “She clearly doesn’t have a clue about how to quiet a crying baby – if she did, he would have stopped crying by now.”  This was when Chris used his firm tone of voice and said, “She knows what she’s doing.  We’ve been traveling for nearly 24 hours.  Our day started out in New Zealand and he’s just plain worn out!”  She glared at Chris, harrumphed, and sat down with a ‘bang’ into her seat.

• All in all, every passenger that we encountered was kind, patient, and understanding if not thrilled about the fact that Joe was distressed.  There were even a few people who came up to us (after the Air NZ flight and the flight from SFO to Texas) to tell us how impressed they were with Joe and that he must be a very relaxed baby to have traveled so well.  It was just the time before boarding our second-to-last flight and the first 20 minutes of our last flight that were so frazzling.

I learned some things from this.  I believe that the next time we attempt a cross-global flight, I’ll lobby for a stopover with hotel stay when we arrive in California.  I also realized that packing certain things was ridiculous.  We were so rushed the entire time, and when we were on flights I didn’t want to move for fear of waking Joe, so that getting anything out of our bags such as my Kindle or iPod wasn’t possible.  I’ll also pack earplugs and a sleep mask.  The last Air NZ flight I was on, these items were provided and I (mistakenly) assumed that they would be again.  I really wished that I’d had them!

But, all’s well that ends well.  We’re here, we’re happy, we’re healthy, all of our gear showed up, and we’re spending time with family.  I’m dreading the return trip 6 weeks from now, but I won’t think about that until I have to.

Joe is currently using a SwaddleMe wrap, like the one below:

However, he is nearly 5 months old and is really reaching the point where we should stop using the swaddle wrap.  He already wriggles his arms and hands out most nights and when he does, he wakes himself up.  Not fun.  He {almost} always goes right back to sleep, but we still have to wake up and go back in to the nursery to re-wrap him.

The problem with this wrap is that it’s not convertible.  It’s either both arms in, or nothing.  Right now, I’m getting pretty tired of having to get up to re-wrap Joe, and his sleep and nap routines have been a bit off.  Do you have any suggestions for swaddlers that are good for transitioning?

Sometimes, babies cry.  If you use public transport, you have to expect that people will bring their children on-board.  I take Joe on the bus with me, and I’m sure that at some point, he’ll burst into tears mid-route.  I can only hope that when it does happen, the bus driver won’t treat me the same way as this poor mom in Portland, Oregon was treated:

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I thought it was interesting that all of the other passengers on the bus left in protest.  I think it shows that most people understand that crying babies are a part of life, and kicking a mom and her child off the bus because of it is unacceptable.

Having a blog is a strange thing.  I enjoy it, but it’s strange.  It basically means that I’m writing about what I’m thinking, feeling, and experiencing right now.  I don’t do a whole lot of retrospective analyses on here, because there’s so much going on in my daily life that I want to record and remember.

I love being able to look back and see how Joe has changed and grown.  I really like reading through my pregnancy posts and remembering what I was thinking and feeling.

But there are some posts that, when I read them, I kind of cringe.  Especially as regards to moving to New Zealand.  Or to Massachusetts, for that matter.  I’m not the type of person who can just pick herself up and be plunked down in any old situation and immediately feel at home.  I’m “slow to warm”, to use a phrase from my child psychology class.  I know this about myself.  Its why I said that I needed to wait at least 1 year before making any judgment calls about life in New Zealand.

I’m not perfect.  To make a blanket statement like, “wait a year before making any judgment calls” is fairly unrealistic.  I definitely made some judgments during that year, but I tried very hard to refrain from forming any concrete ideas.  I’m glad that I took this approach, because I read back through some of the posts that I wrote during that first year, and I shake my head, silently chastising the 9 months ago or 5 months ago or 12 months ago version of myself.  If there’s one lesson that I have learned through blogging and from all this moving around, its that you need to give yourself time.

I can remember being taken aback the first time that we went shopping in New Zealand.  I’m not referring to the prices.  I’m talking about the amount of selection.  It was pretty slim.  I still remember finding only one type of floor cleaner in the entire store, and thinking it was a tragedy.  Buying the bottle and realizing that it did a pretty crummy job of cleaning only made things worse, and I know that I overreacted about it.  But now?  Now, I love the fact that having only 1 type of floor cleaner forced me to learn how to make my own cleaning solution, because I love my cleaning solution and it’s about 99 times cheaper than the cheapest stuff you can buy.

I think about my concerns and complaints regarding the high cost of gas here in New Zealand.  Nowadays, I rarely think about it.  Why?  Because we don’t own a vehicle.  Most Kiwis do own cars, but we made a decision to live in an area where we could go without one and not encounter too much difficulty.  There were moments when I groaned and snorted about this, but now?  I love it.  I love that I can walk pretty much everywhere that I need to go.  I like that I’m comfortable and familiar with the bus system and don’t have to worry about navigating through traffic.  When people ask me about driving and “don’t you want to drive?”, I can truthfully tell them that no, I don’t.  I’ve driven over here a few times, and I can do it if I have to,  but I’m happy using the bus or pushing Joe in the pram while walking on my own 2 feet.  I’m guessing that as Joe gets older, we’ll have to buy one if we’re still in New Zealand.  Kids have a lot of activities that require chauffeuring around.  But for now, I’m glad that I was “forced” into going without a vehicle and learning something new about myself.

Then, I think about my feelings regarding midwife-care during pregnancy.  I can safely say that, had I been pregnant in the States, there’s about a less than 1% chance that I would have used a midwife.  Over here, the majority of women use midwives.  I wasn’t too happy about the fact that I had to use a midwife, and, in typical me style, I over-dramatized it.  I’m actually cringeing as I sit here typing, remembering how I felt at the time.  Ugggh.

Now, I think that I’ll probably use a midwife for my subsequent pregnancies.  I still believe that an OB is the way to go for any problems or high-risk situations, but I truly appreciated the amount of care and professionalism that my midwife demonstrated.  Yes, there are bad apples in every barrel, and I’m certain that there are bad midwives out there.  But I’m happy with how our situation panned out, and I never would have experienced it had I not moved here.  Even then, I still dragged my feet about it, but I’m glad that I was “forced” into it.

So, for all of you readers out there who stumble across some of my old posts, please keep in mind that I change.  I’m not the same person that I was 3 months ago.  Or 3 weeks ago.  Or 3 years ago {and no, this isn’t my way of supporting Hume’s views regarding the self… must put that out there so as to appease the hubby}.  My opinions and feelings change, and having this blog is a good reminder of that to me and to others.  Maybe you’re feeling sad right now about something.  Or maybe you’re depressed.  Or perhaps you’re thinking that your life isn’t where you want it to be right now.  If that’s you, then keep me in mind.  I’ve felt a bit sad and upset and frustrated about things, and I know that I’ve gotten mired down by it.  But looking back on these posts is a great reminder to me that life changes all the time, and we change with it.  Usually… thankfully… for the better

Hello, my lovely readers!  If any of you are interested, click on the image below to get a free subscription to BabyTalk Magazine:

I’ve already shared this with my expectant sisters-in-law, and thought that I would pass it along to you guys, too!

Only open to US residents

There are 3 things on my horizon that have got me pretty excited…

1. I’m getting my hair cut and highlighted for the first time in, oh, 5 months.  Back then, I looked like this:

36 Weeks Pregnant

Now, I look somewhat like this…

Cousin It from “The Addams Family”

2. It’s less than a month till the 5km {part of the 2011 Auckland Marathon}.  I’ve done alright with the treadmill and with pushing Joe in the pram around Auckland {he’ll be doing the 5km with me}.  Yesterday, we did over 6km, but I feel a bit like a loafer.  I walk so much with Joe, and 5km isn’t that far when you think about it.  Still, I’m happy that we’re doing it and that I’ll get to see some friends while we’re there!  I have had a few nightmares about having to stop midway through and breastfeed Joe on the side of the road.  Hopefully that won’t happen… I don’t have any nursing-friendly exercise tops!

3. It’s ~6 weeks till we hop on a plane, travel for 24+ hours, and arrive in America.  This will be my 1st trip back in 19 months, and it will be Joe’s first time to see most of his family {excluding Skype chats}. We’re planning to stay with my family for ~4 weeks {in Indiana} and with Chris’ parents for ~2 weeks {in St. Simons Island, Geogia}.  I can’t wait to do things like:

• Go to Target, Walmart, Costco/Sam’s Club, and just marvel at the low prices
• Eat at my hometown Mexican restaurant and not have to pay $40 for a meal
• Take advantage of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales
• Enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with loved ones
• Visit Trader Joe’s and Penzey’s Spices
• Ride bikes on the beach at St. Simons Island
• Visit family in MI and in WI

My plane ticket {with a fee for carrying Joe on-board} was right around $3,000.  Gulp.  Chris’ ticket was paid for out of a grant, since he’ll be spending a good chunk of our time in the US doing work and research at a few universities.  It pains me to spend that much on airfare.  That’s in part why it will be such a long visit, and why my visits back are few and far between.  I want to make the most of our time and really take advantage of being around family.  I can’t wait to see my parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews.  It’ll be worth every penny

Note: Airfare to and from NZ to the US isn’t always that expensive.  It costs that much because our travel time is (a) around Christmas and (b) during the NZ summer, which is a very popular time for tourists!

What’s been going on:

1. I’ve signed up to do a 5k with Joe in the pram.  Thank you, Dorothy, for telling me about it!  The 5k is part of the Auckland Marathon that takes place at the end of October.
2. I’m at the end of day 5 of a 30 day challenge that I set for myself: no added processed sugars, no alcohol, and adding more healthy grains.  It’s amazing how many foods have sugar added to it.  In the last 5 days, I’ve made a lot of recipes – homemade barbecue sauce {without sugar}, red lentil bolognese sauce, another batch of granola bars, crockpot pulled pork, a beetroot + quinoa salad, and a pumpkin {squash} + feta risotto.  Sometimes, I feel as though it’s a never ending cycle with the cooking and dishes and laundry.
3. Speaking of laundry, we’ve started using cloth wipes with Joe.  I didn’t really have a problem with the flushable wipes we used, but I’d heard from several friends who were using cloth and it sounded interesting.  I like the idea of buying one supply and reusing it over and over again.  So far it’s going fine, and it’s not like it adds a lot to our laundry load.
4. We’re leaving for a visit to the States in a little less than 2 months.  Crazy to think that Joe is an American citizen but has never been on US soil.

This last thing doesn’t relate to me, but to my MIL.  She was riding her bike with my FIL the other day.  Another cyclist was approaching and my MIL moved to the side of the footpath to give him extra room to cycle past.  In doing so, her front tire hit a groove and she started to go headfirst over the handlebars.  Rather than doing that, she managed to do a sort of jump/fall off the bike.  Unfortunately, when she did that she went into the path of my FIL’s bike.  Her hand ended up in the spokes and, as she describes it, was basically filleted by the metal.  And the other cyclist?  The one she’d moved over to let pass?  He stopped alright… but only to turn around and yell, “That’s what you get for riding a bike without a helmet and no gloves!” and then continued on.  Isn’t that crazy?!  There she was, lying on the ground sliced up and bleeding and this guy takes the time and effort to stop and insult her, and then carry on his way.  Thankfully, another woman was driving by and stopped.  She got my MIL in her car and drove her to the ER.  She stayed with her the entire time until my FIL was able to get there.  I’m thankful that someone came along at just the right moment, but I’m still a bit burned up about that other cyclist.

So, that’s our life these days.  Everything’s pretty routine and status quo.  That’s fine with me.  Having a lot of excitement around a 3 month old isn’t exactly a good thing!  I hope that you, my lovely readers, are all doing well, too

I recently came across a recipe that involves absolutely no cooking, uses fresh veggies, and takes about, oh , 15 minutes to make.  I like to think of it as a salad  that you can carry in one hand and eat without a fork.  Everyone, meet my stuffed tomatoes:

Aren’t they pretty?

I’ll bet you want to know what’s in them…

• 5 oz {about 140 grams} raw spinach
• 2 T olive oil
• 1/2 C cashews
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 oz {about 230 grams) mushrooms
• 1 medium onion
• salt
• pepper
• 3 lbs {1.3 kgs} raw tomatoes

Even I, a girl who doesn’t particularly care for mushrooms, like this recipe.

Rinse spinach, dry, and placein a large bowl.  Drizzle olive oil over the spinach and start rubbing it into the leaves.  You want them to get kind of wilted, so don’t be afraid to squeeze them and soften them.  Chop the mushrooms into chunks and finely dice the onions.  Add to spinach.

Place lemon juice, garlic, and cashews into a blender and blend till it forms a chunky paste {if you’re lucky and have a bullet-style blender, you can blend it into a smooth paste… mine was chunky and tasted just fine}.  You may have to scrape the sides of the blender and push the mixture back down, then blend again.  Dump this into the spinach mixture and toss with your hands.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Rinse the tomatoes and slice off the tops, then scoop out the innards with a spoon {make sure you save the tops and tomato pulp – you can use it for salads or salsa or something else}.  Stuff the tomatoes with spinach mixture, then eat!

A Few Notes: Chris and I both enjoyed these, but I thought they were a bit strong on the onion.  If you’re like me and prefer a milder version, you might swap the medium-sized onion for a small onion {or half of a medium-sized onion}.  I’m trying to reduce the amount of dairy in my diet, but if I weren’t, I would add some shredded mozzarella to the mix.  I think that would make the flavor a bit more mild and complement the other ingredients quite well.  Chris ate his with some avocado.

All told, this recipe took me 15 minutes to make.  I whipped it up and set the tomatoes on a plate.  Chris and I ate them for dinner, saving some for lunch the following day {they did well in the fridge overnight}.  It was a tasty, easy, fresh, healthy dinner.

Original recipe can be found here.

This has to be one of the funniest YouTube videos I’ve seen in awhile.  It’s just under 3 minutes, and trust me – it’s worth it   Very cute and funny!

Big thank you to my sister Valerie for sending it my way!  Here’s a follow-up interview with Bruce and Esther, the stars of the video:

The clip was so popular that it even made “The Daily Mail”!